Multiple plist vs core data?

[twbriggs]

Hello all…new here and new to iPhone/iOS development.
I am working on an app that has Tab Bar Navigation to
tab between multiple drill down sections (think iPod app
on iPhone, only with reference data). It will contain
several volumes on information (a tab for each volume).
Would it be advantageous to use a plist for each volume
or use core data?

Thanks for any help,
Tim

[Duncan C]

Originally Posted by twbriggs

Hello all…new here and new to iPhone/iOS development.
I am working on an app that has Tab Bar Navigation to
tab between multiple drill down sections (think iPod app
on iPhone, only with reference data). It will contain
several volumes on information (a tab for each volume).
Would it be advantageous to use a plist for each volume
or use core data?

Thanks for any help,
Tim

The devil is in the details.

If the amount of data is fairly small (hundreds of records) and you aren't doing a lot of sorting or filtering, arrays and/or dictionaries can be a fine way to represent the data in your app, and then just load/save it from/to a plist.

If you have lots of data, or it's complex (lists of companies, with client and customer relationships between them, and the companies have employees, who have supervisors, subordinates and peers) or you slice-and-dice it in lots of different ways like filtering out only the records that meet certain criteria, or you have tables that can be sorted on multiple keys, etc. then you should probably bite the bullet and use Core Data.

Core Data has a steep learning curve. It will hurt your head at first understanding how it works, and how to use it. However, at some point the light will switch on, and you will be amazed at how powerful it is, and how quickly you can add really cool features to your apps.

[twbriggs]

Thank you. That's what I figured. I see it has a steep learning curve and I've been working on some of the tutorials to learn. Is it possible to import data from a plist to core data?

Thanks!